


The search for  Johto's Answers after the Kanto Catastrophe

by Mecha9Viceroy74



Series: How the people survived the Masters [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe- Post Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Disappointment, Disguise, Dysfunctional Relationships, Feelings Realization, Inspired by Fanfiction, Inspired by Music, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Multi, Post-Apocalypse, Silver just wants a break
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-19 03:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22404445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mecha9Viceroy74/pseuds/Mecha9Viceroy74
Summary: Following a horrific apocalyptic event in the Kanto region caused by Team Rocket, that has wiped out all regional communications, Ethan, the current champion of Johto must find the Gym Leaders and the answers he seeks across the course of nine days.But why is there another evil team called Team Red-shift forming in Johto anyway and why are they proposing an alliance to deal with Kanto's problems?
Relationships: Crystal/Silver (Pokemon), Ibuki | Clair/Mikan | Jasmine, Matsuba | Morty/Minaki | Eusine
Series: How the people survived the Masters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613383
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. How the Journey started

**Author's Note:**

> This was done because a certain dark Pokemon fanfiction involving a post apocalyptic world in Kanto called Pokemon Master didn't exactly show what was going on next door so to speak and was unbearably edgy. I have been thinking of what possibly might happen if people reacted realistically during an apocalypse.
> 
> As always, I don't own any Pokemon characters or the locations, as the Pokemon series belongs to the Game Freak company and Nintendo.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter. Our hero Ethan encounters someone unexpected, but what will come of this meeting near Mount Silver and what does Team Red-shift really want with the Johto Champion?
> 
> Can the Elite 4 ensure the region's safety?

###  Chapter 1: Start of a new age 

Not a lot grew on the black rained Kanto-Johto region pass of Route 28 near Mount Silver anymore, ever since the Event had happened that had ruined the fragile peace the Pokemon World had enjoyed. It had barely been a decade since then, but there were mind controlled Dratini, Dragonair and Dragonite patrolling the cracked, but slowly recovering muddy ground. This was odd, because the Ponyta, Tangela, Do-duo and Polywhirl species of Pokemon used to live in the nearby route 28, before the Event had nearly wiped them out. So it was obvious that something strange was going on.

.

A man wearing a slightly ragged black and gold cap, along with a khaki brown shirt and black trousers who was hiding barely five miles away in the bushes sighed at this strange sight. A quadrupedal cream and dark blue furred hedgehog with pointed ears and a ruff of fire quills was also there with him, it was his starter Pokemon Typsodil, 

.

"Claire is not going to like this at all. Can't believe it's nearly been a decade since that event caused by Giovanni nearly wiped out everyone, people and Pokemon alike in Kanto and the rest of the world, but the renegade Indigo League members of Kanto have blocked Mount Silver off and we can't get inside, since we're already having our own problems with Team Red-shift. You okay Typsodil?"

His Typsodil nodded with a cry of agreement. "Typ, typsodil!". Then as the two of them were about to start heading off, when a twig snapping and something breaking on the Kanto side caught the brainwashed Pokemon's attention and our hero nearly gasped in shock! 

.

It was one of the red and grey high-vision vest wearing Team Red-shift male grunts and his green hair slightly poked out of the pre-Event flight helmet as he shouted for help, as he had tripped on a rock and hurt his foot. 

"Oh no, I was meant to report back about the stuff going on in Kanto that I found out in Lavender Town, but now I've been spotted since I tripped on this rock. Help someone, anyone help me before I die! Oh it's just you, Johto Champion Ethan. Our boss already knows about - woahh bad Dratini! I didn't even do anything to you." 

.

The grunt yelped as he jumped away from an usually sweet natured Dratini's Twister attack to the face which wasn't easy with a stubbed toe, before a quick Flamethrower blocked the Dratini's move, courtesy of Typsodil.

.

At realising there was now another target ,one half of the brainwashed Dragon types aimed Hyper beams at Ethan, while the other half were attempting to go after the grunt, who summoned a Hitmonchan from his poke-ball. "Okay Hitmonchan. U-use Ice Punch, Thunder Punch or Counter on any Dragon Types who get too close. The mission must come first, but feel free to use Protect, unless they know something like Fly or dig! Then we're probably doomed." 

.

The grunt stated quickly, while clumsily trying to avoid Dragon Pulses aimed his way with an injured foot and Hitmonchan quickly punched the unfortunate Dragonite who had tried to hurt his trainer in the left arm, much to Ethan's dismay of the attempted biter's frost-punched arm, causing a reddish white array of ice crystals to form around the punch!

The Hyper beams made Ethan nearly dizzy from having to dodge them all, even though Typsodil was using Smokescreen to try to keep Ethan and the grunt's Pokemon safe and one stray Hyper Beam damaged his Communicator,causing pieces of metal to scatter on his left shoulder. 

. "Argh, that hurts! But I can't risk hurting any brainwashed Pokemon. Go Jynx and Beedrill!" Typsodil angrily glared at the other two Pokemon who came out of the two poke-balls , but winced a bit at Ethan's shout of pain. "Jynx." "Beedrilll." Jynx hummed calmly while Beedrill buzzed impatiently , waiting for a chance to use its sting. But Typsodil was showing signs of fatigue and Ethan knew two Pokemon would not exactly help against 15 dragon types at once, yet Misao had nagged him not to use all six Pokemon in his team at once. Which would definitely attract the Kanto League member's attention and lead to more trouble, the kind that was fatal. 

"I'm sorry Typsodil , but you're too tired from the journey to Kanto from Johto, having to use Rock Smash to get to Kanto's Route 28 and overusing Smokescreen right now. Please get some rest." Typsodil looked at Ethan's injured arm with a hint of concern, before heading back into his Pokeball. Now there were two ways Ethan could go about this, but he didn't feel like using the poison status effect on Pokemon that were being mind controlled and quickly took charge. "Alright, you two think fast. Beedrill use double team on Hitmonchan , Jynx do you remember any Psychic moves to snap people or Pokemon out of Mind control? This could be the difference between coming back alive, or not at all." 

So Beedrill reluctantly raised Hitmonchan's speed with a quick flurry of bee copies, as a distraction while the Dragonites were pondering what to do next. Jynx quickly put up two fingers, meaning she knew Double Slap, as Regi sighed "Phew, thanks a bunch. Here catch that Leppa berry, Hitmonchan keep sharp!" The trained and wild Pokemon all scuffled for the refreshing berry, while a yellow Pokemon with a pendulum was struggling to keep up the pace, it was a Hypno! 

As soon as the brainwashed Dragonites tried to get close enough to Ethan, Jynx quickly used Double Snap on the one that was on her left, while Beedrill fired a greenish Pin Missile in a tri spread, which didn't really faze the Dragonites, but got the Dratinis and Dragonairs to back off. One stray Pin missile hit the circle stone that was controlling them. Also somehow Tangela popped out of one of Ethan's Pokeballs and used Rest on the Dragon types, while the Grunt's Hitmonchan put up his arm in victory pose. 

"Wow, that strategy was a-mazing! I now can see why you beat Lance with the teamwork skills a decade ago and I'm still just a grunt. By the way , my name's Reggie, or Regi if you prefer." It felt odd shaking the hand of a Team grunt, but considering Reggie's peppy facade, Ethan still took it, until Reggie jumped upon seeing the freed Dragon Type Pokemon. "Now what do we do?" "Just stay calm Regi. As long as we're careful, they should be back to the gentle way they used to be." He sighed back to Regi, as the Dragon Pokemon recovered from their forced mind control. 

To their credit, upon realising what they had been forced into doing, the Dragon Pokemon were equally horrified and tried to apologise with a gift of berries, as a Hypno wearing a Marsh Badge symbol angrily walked off towards Sabrina's hideout in Saffron City. "It's okay, none of you were to blame, you were being forced into doing it. Let me help." "Why are we wasting time helping when every second counts for us?" Regi, the grunt replied while helping pick up the Communicator pieces, as Ethan looked at him sadly.

.

"If one of your Pokemon was being forced to do things you wouldn't do, would you just let it happen? Or would you stop things from getting worse?" Ethan asked back as Regi queried. "Not sure about that Champion, I'm not exactly the big word type. Maybe I would, or maybe I wouldn't . It's all about what ensures you live through another day, that really matters. Anyway, let's go." 

. Bizarrely, none of the guards of the rogue Gym Leaders, or Masters as they called themselves now, were actually focusing upon two people dressed in Johto styles heading down to route 27's cracked rocks as they were too busy talking about the former champion of Kanto Ash Ketchum and somehow the Dark Master of Kanto, who from what little information Ethan and Regi could glean, had switched sides to the rebels. 

"Well that changes things. Didn't some of the higher ups of Team Cipher turn his Pikachu into a Shadow Pokemon? Thought that was just a hoax until I saw it myself while doing recon out there." Reggie muttered as Ethan's jaw nearly dropped at how casually he admitted to seeing one of the most famous Trainers in the world and Ethan replied back "Did he look the same as when he finished the Indigo League? Short haired, with a cap, a sport t-shirt, jeans and sturdy shoes?" "No, he looked really sullen, had his hair pretty long and he was wearing a black cape.Which is pretty dumb, because anyone could try and grab a cape, or it could get snagged on something. But let's go already." 

The whole of the Victory road was a bit of a mess on the walk, with broken glass and nails near the windows along with the damaged walls from Event affected Pokemon during the Dark Wars, but still the Johto portion of the Indigo league held on, to the core values before the corruption that had set in Kanto made certain people think taking over the Kanto region was more important than looking after it properly. Misao, Will and Karen were staying there and none of them looked happy about the new arrival. "Oh hello Ethan, it's good to see that you arrived back safely from Kanto. Why are you with a Team Red-shift member anyway?" Misao asked while holding her Megananium's Poke-ball cautiously, while Will folded his arms in annoyance and Karen put her chipped nails into a fighting pose. "He was about to be attacked by mind-controlled Dragon Types near Mount Silver, so I did the right thing and saved him, along with the Pokemon." Ethan sighed as he tried to calm everyone down. 

"Are you crazy?! Look kid, just because you are the strongest person in Johto apart from Claire, me , Koga, Bruno ,Will and Lance, doesn't mean you should take stupid risks like that!" Karen blurted out in a barely held together yell, as Will added in. "While admittedly that is an admirable thing to do Ethan, what if it could've been a trap to eliminate you? In a situation like that , your own survival must be the highest priority first, no matter of morality can make up for your own life." 

Reggie winced at Karen and Will before replying back to the two Johto Elite Four members. "Well don't shoot the messenger , Mrs Social Darwinist and Stage Guy. Thought you would've enjoyed something like this apocalypse" He clutched his hand for a Scizor pokeball, before quickly calming down, upon realising the tense situation going on and the angry glares. 

"Nah, not worth it, picking a fight with you two. The boss thinks it would be better for the region as a whole if we worked together, because right now everything's a mess and we need to fix some things bout next door if you catch my drift. Can't exactly take over the world if we don't have clean water to drink." "Humph, don't try anything funny here, we still need to head back to Johto first, before the barrier closes and we all get trapped here on enemy ground." Karen begrudgingly sighed back as Misao stated while Will was looking for the Barrier's wavelength with his two Xatu's help as they were walking towards the water. "Do you have any proof of your leader's trustworthiness for us to see? Just because you claim something is true Reggie, doesn't mean it actually is. For what little we know, it could be a trap." 

Reggie quickly rummaged around in his pockets, before quickly fishing something out of them and showing it to her. It was a smoothly written letter from Team Red-shift's boss explaining the whole thing about why he wanted to form the alliance with the Johto members of the Indigo league, because of the rumours about the currently posthumous Champion of the entire Indigo League, Gary Oak being brought back from the dead. 

"Oh, almost forgot this gift of seven Refreshes, along with a message for Professor Misao and the Indigo League. The boss says he wants a meeting with you lot of Johto's best back at The Newbark town ruins in nine days, to decide what to do about the mess in Kanto. I probably should've explained things first first, before we all nearly went Pokemon battle crazy . He'll be waiting for you there. Wow, I need to get my foot checked out back at the base." Reggie the Team Red-shift grunt stated while giving them the goodwill gift of the precious few Refreshes, before flying off on a robot Pidgeot, much to Karen's annoyance as she stomped around in the beach mud. "Seriously, how come that team gets all the good inventions, while we are left scrabbling in the muck for scraps?!"

"To give Team Red-shift credit Karen, they still have at least a few of the last remaining power-plants that are working in Johto. Admittedly a few of the higher ups want Giovanni back, but their leader has certainly changed from when he started out. A shame some of Silver's earlier ideals have rubbed off on Professor Oak's son, Gary used to be quite the visionary lad, if a bit hot tempered." Will replied back to her while trying to ensure that Karen didn't wind up hurting herself with Beat Down by accident as they surfed back to Johto, on Misao's Lapras, towards what few ruins remained of New Bark Town at the Johto border. 

Just because everyone had gotten Pokemon Type powers who had been near the Event's epicentre , didn't mean it was a good thing. Some people had tried to rule over the towns or commit petty crimes and acts of revenge against people who had slighted them. Even having Type based powers was a mixed bag, because Ho-oh help you if you wound up with moisture control as a power and lack of control was fatal, as several infamous incidents in Eggster Town and Florando had proven to be the case. 

Luckily Bruno, before the fighting type member had left for Kanto had given his friendly rival Will the few notes Professor Oak had on the Event given powers before he died and Will had managed to create a training program to ensure they could be handled safely, though admittedly it was growing hard to find people who wanted to be taught by a member of the Elite 4 even for someone as patient yet dramatic as Will . Though at least there were less deaths and more safe places now.

But elsewhere in Johto and over near Goldenrod City, someone else wasn't happy. "You're afraid of Lance coming back here? He's too busy trying to ensure the Shadow affiliated Gym leaders over in Kanto don't trip over their own shoelaces. Anyway , if you need a scout around Ilex Forest, just say the word and the rookies can take care of it!" A green Crobat wing hair styled man man with a Night slash scar over his skin stated as the Boss replied back with an annoyed shrug , before slamming his fist on the table.

"No Proton, I cannot send you over to Azelea town. The townspeople there still haven't forgotten your Slowpoke tail cutting scheme and your cruelty makes you too noticeable in public. We cannot risk any negative PR for Team Red-Shift, so long as people still remember what my father did." The red haired Bowie like boss of Team Red-shift stated to the annoyed scarred former Team Rocket Executive who replied while he stomped off down the stairs. "Just because you are Giovanni's son Silver and a skilled Pokemon Trainer, doesn't mean I hold you in god like respect like those two boot-lickers!" 

Silver groaned while checking Team Red-shift's map , which was horribly burnt from a certain Pikachu's Thunderbolt. Kanto seemed to be the root of his father's obsession with world domination, but he didn't really know how it switched to destroying it during the Dark Wars. Admittedly that one was something Archer had left out of the Red-Shift recruitment spiel. Then his phone rang with three missed calls at once and Silver sighed, while Proton left and he checked the caller Id's voicemail. 

"Is that Ariana, oh, you're trying to contact the Unova or Orre regions for information on Team Cypher? I doubt Ghentis will let us go unheeded in his own territory, but you can handle it right?" Ariana nodded with a curt "I'll do my best Sir. Leave it to me." , as she turned off her phone in New Stration town. Then Silver checked the second one as the sound of a dial up reached his ears, while he walked out of the meeting room. " Petrel, you still have Oak's access keys to his lab in Alola right? What, Professor Kukui is growing suspicious of your Professor Oak disguise?!" 

A bead of sweat ran down Petrel's brow, after he removed his bushy grey wig in Melemele Island's second payphone in the Alola Islands as he replied at midnight due to the time difference. "Y-yes, he got suspicious yesterday, after I mentioned the stuff that was going on back in Kanto before the Event and the Dark Wars. He found the clone rumour ridiculous as well though. Not really broken cover yet though. Call you later, when I can find it that is." Then he quickly changed back to Professor Oak's form before leaving the payphone.

Meanwhile Guzma was walking along Hau'oli City's ruined streets , since Ilima was too busy finishing his homework in the safe zone, when he saw Professor Oak walk out of one of the few pay phones on the island. Feeling suspicious he called out to Kanto's top Pokemon Professor. "Hey Sammy Oak. Why are you making a phone call this late at night? The Rattata round here like making trouble for night tourists, well used to. So what gives old man?" 

Petrel winced at the "friend" of Professor Kukui's shout, before replying in his best Professor Oak impression at Guzma, which was easy ever since he gained the Transform move. "Ah Guzma, my lad don't scare an old man like that in the dark! Forgive me for being an absent minded Pokemon Professor and forgetting that information my twin brother Samson told my about the Alolan Variant forms in this region. I was just calling a few friends, including Agatha about any news from Kanto, especially anything about my nephew Gary Oak and my assistant Tracy Skectum. Do you know if they are still alive?" 

Guzma shrugged while he led Kanto's brightest mind back to Iki town. "Heck if I knew, you'd probably have to ask Nanu, Molyane , Sophocles and Kahili. They received word two weeks ago from Professor Ivy's lab round the Orange Archipelago. Tracey was there and she had to be taken to the Tangelo Island hospital. Turns out she wound up using Substitute during an earthquake, but got trapped by accident. He's had to pick up the slack since then. Sorry to bring the bad news, but Gary passed away nearly five or six years ago after the Dark Wars. Not exactly in a nice way either."

The mental image of the state that Gary's body had been in, admittedly made Petrel shudder at the agony Ash's rival must have gone through before his untimely end, so to keep up his cover he started to cry in the middle of the road. "I-i, I don't know what to say Guzma. None of us in Kanto expected a war like that to happen before, after the last major war. I hope Mew has taken him to a better place. But still thank you for letting this old man have a bit of reassurance in these horrible times." 

An admittedly slightly dull speech, but from what little Petrel had known, Oak had died feeling utterly miserable. A slow decline in the region's security, along with the health service and having people abuse his knowledge on Pokemon and human relations, to try and create Poke-gods and Shadow Pokemon would break even a saint like Samuel Oak, though personally Petrel respected the man.

Meanwhile, back in Johto at, Silver reluctantly checked the final phone call, from the most loyal of his administrators to Giovanni's ideals, Archer himself. "Evening, this is Silver. What exactly is your status Archer-san? Because I can't tell where you're calling from in the Galar." This was admittedly rather confusing to Silver, because despite being a certain someone's son, he wasn't exactly good at micromanaging things. Hopefully Archer would answer him and not act snippy about his failure to stop Ethan or Misao in the past. 

The voice on the other end is obviously Silver's, which admittedly is not ideal for him right now. But right now in the middle of Hulbury's flooding season being pursued by policemen, Archer would take any rope he could get and not too soon for the former Team Rocket's liking. This was because Nessa had taken out his Houndoom with her Drednaw barely half an hour ago, which had caught him ashamedly off guard. 

"Ah, goodnight Silver, currently stuck in Hulbury at the moment. Admittedly Galar and Kalos's time differences have done a number on my body clock. Anyway my mission to persuade Chairman Rose to assist with funding was a failure on two fronts. Firstly Rose stated he would rather not associate with former criminals and he had to focus on Galar and his home region first. Also Kabu and Lysandre recognised me in Wyndon, so Kabu has called the remains of the local police department. Will leave immediately to base." 

Archer curtly answered the query with his former civil servant trained decorum to the lad. The dis-orienteering feeling of a Fly done with a Pidgeotto to Unova from Galar and then a boat trip back from there to Johto was always an unpleasant one. But surely no-one in Kanto would be stupid enough to go against the reformed Team Rock- no Red-Shift? 

While all of this interpersonal drama among Team Red-shift was being ignored by the Johto elite 4 as the two local members left for the more secured areas, the Champion sighed as he looked at the setting sun. "Guess I'd better seek shelter again." Ethan said with the sort of determination you would expect for a survivor of the apocalypse.

So he headed towards the shelter he had been focusing on building at New Bark Town's ruins. The feeling of nostalgia briefly flashed through Ethan's eyes, as he looked at the miraculously intact windmills and the broken ruins of the houses. It was hard to believe that this was a minor amount of damage, compared to what had befallen places like Cerulean City, Pallet Town and even the far off regions like Alola, Unova and Kalos. 

He quickly moved through the small maze of eighteen houses and the by-streets of his home town, as wild Hoothoot, that are Normal typed red eyed owls were flying in the night sky and Spinarak that were green spider Bug types, were wondering whether or not the man would make easy prey. But his Typsodil nearly popped out of the Pokeball out of mutual concern and over-protectiveness. 

"Let's just head inside. I think nearly everyone needs a few berries and some rest." Ever since the Dark Wars had affected the world, the technology to create potions was becoming harder to find and they grew rarer as a result. So as Ethan headed inside the slightly clumsy attempt to rebuild his home, he quickly gave Typsodil, Jynx and Beedril some Oran berries to cure their fatigue and went upstairs to get some rest.

But Ethan didn't exactly sleep well this night, for the constant thoughts of why Team Red-shift's leader Silver had chosen him to alert the Gym Leaders about the upcoming threat in Kanto, instead of Pokemon Professor Misao and her little sister Lyra. Then he remembered how Silver had stolen Pokemon from both Professor Elm and someone from Cianwood City, insulted Faulkner at Sprout Tower and got scolded by Lance for his ill treatment of Pokemon, after losing to him in a Pokemon battle in the Mahogany Town Team Rocket hideout. 

Then it made a strange amount of sense, for Silver probably had cooked up the plan, because he felt too ashamed to meet the Gym Leaders again. This didn't reassure Ethan after he got changed into a set of pyjamas, as Jynx hummed a Lullaby to ensure he could sleep quietly tonight

Will and Karen met up in Mahogany Town and Karen stated "How'll we arrange all nine of the Gym Leaders to meet up here in Johto? Most of them already have issues of their own to deal with.". Will thought for a moment, before replying with his mask off. "Well, Thornton's no doubt got something in mind. I have no intention of this being the finale of our own region. Also my brother in law Lucien sent a letter saying something's going on in Sinnoh, which probably should've caught either Blaine or Lieutenant Surge's attention first." Then they headed to separate rooms i the inn. 

#####  End of the zeroth day: Nine days remaining

##### 


	2. Faulkner's burden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After leaving the ruins of his old home, Ethan leaves New Bark Town, onto the first stop at Violet City. But Faulkner is struggling with the burdens of leadership after Walker's untimely death. Can our hero try and prevent a feud in the city?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now admittedly a succession crisis for Giovanni would have been a pretty compelling element and what exactly caused the Kanto half of the Indigo League to go astray would probably be rather compelling. But someone didn't take that route, which is a shame considering Johto is technically a counterpart of the Kansei region.  
>  But without further ado, let the Viceroy take the reins and show what could have been!  
> Note: I don't own any Pokemon characters, the locations, or the moves, they are fictional and the copyright property of Game Freak and Nintendo.

###  Day 1 of the preparations before the conference

The troubling dream of a magical music box and a catastrophe striking a kingdom , had swept Ethan up all night, but his back felt a bit stiff and as he got up in what remained of his old home, the cinders of the fireplace were still warm. "Thank you Typsodil again for the help. I feel a bit warmer now, so we need to head off to Violet town first. Maybe stop off at Cherrygrove if we have the time?" He sighed wistfully as he headed upstairs to get changed. It still felt raw knowing his mother was no longer there, but Ethan didn't really blame Ash for what had happened, so he quickly doused the flames with a bucket of sand. 

He didn't have the heart to leave his home, as if a fresh wound was layered over the horror he had felt upon seeing how his parents had died. Luckily since the sun was coming up after a meagre breakfast and getting changed the journey was without incidents, for most of Johto's raiders still feared the rumours of Ho-oh's wrath and didn't dare cause trouble. Which admittedly made travelling to Cherrygrove for a quick stop over even more time consuming, but right now Ethan just wanted to feel happy and see Lyra again.

After a quick ride up route 30 and dodging a few ledges on Route 31, he was there at the purple roofed Violet City. Suddenly with a gust of wind, Faulkner jumped out of a second floor window, which made Ethan wince, since jumping from that height of the house must have hurt. but admittedly seeing the first Gym Leader in Johto he had faced was still alive and well, briefly warmed Ethan's heart.

He waved his right hand at Faulkner and cheered "Good morning Faulkner. Do you mind if I ask you something really quick? I need you to sign this attendance slip for the Indigo Conference. Can you help me out here?" 

Faulkner shook his head at Ethan before pointing towards Sprout Tower and the Gym. "I wish I could go to assist you Ethan at the conference, but my hands are tied at the moment. Perhaps you can lend a ear?" Faulkner sighed quickly as he took a deep breath, before beckoning for Ethan to follow him towards the Violet City Gym. There Rod, Abe and the few remaining sages of Sprout Tower were all arguing in the Flying gym's elm wood patterned floor . Abe looked at Faulkner before saying to the Sages and his fellow Bird Tamer. "Okay you five, quit arguing around here. Faulkner's here now, so don't get in a flap about this tower mess now he's here. Especially about what to do to Walker."

Sage Troy looked apologetically at Faulkner before saying. "I am sorry to put any negative emotions into this place Faulkner, but we have an issue. Without our Elder Li's guidance, none of us are sure which path to take in this new era. Do we stay in Violet City and risk letting suffering build up in the outside world? Or should we leave the city and risk death to try and ease other's suffering, despite the risks?"

"Never mind that. Did you perform those funeral rites for Walker or didn't you forget that death happened during Giovanni's first attack on Johto." Rod interrupted while putting his hands on his hips angrily as Neal muttered "Your rudeness doesn't exactly make this easier. We have been keeping watch over his grave and ensuring the rites were properly performed. Our region Gastly's were talking about some Forbidden Pokemon. but we aren't sure what they meant by that." 

As the bird keepers and the monks started arguing again, Faulkner looked more and more worked up by the minute. 

It was surprising to hear Silver's voice again, but Ethan did not expect it to be coming from inside the tower, but Faulkner looked just as surprised. "Why are you here Silver? I still haven't forgotten you said to Elder Li twelve years ago." "Calm down. Or are you forgetting I helped save his life during the Dark Wars, despite my father's orders. Those old Johtoites knew what they were doing building this, a lot of buildings in Kalos have been ruined from earthquakes out east. But did you sign the clipboard or not?" 

It still grated on Faulkner's ears knowing that Silver sounded like a slightly rougher and charming version of Giovanni. But he reluctantly complied, as the red parting hair styled boss of Johto's newest Team smiled. "Well at least the first hurdle's been dealt with. Oi Ethan, make sure to get the other signatures of the Gym Leaders for me. Cheers, as the folks in Galar say." Then he shimmed out of the Sprout Tower, before nearly being punched in the face by a Roughneck for his unusual makeup and hairstyle. 

But Silver hit back with hidden knuckledusters in his glove, so after casually beating the Roughneck up and left Violet city as quickly as he came, as the Nurse Joy groaned at Roughneck Hazama's latest stupid idea, as she took him to the Pokemon centre.

"


	3. Bugsy's Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly growing up is hard on anyone, even a Gym Leader like Bugsy. But can Ethan try to allay his doubts, also why is Bugsy talking to four other people in his sleep?

###  Bugsy's Doubt 

#####  Day 2 of the preparations, 7 days remaining until the Indigo conference. 

The feeling of old tatami mats and bird feathers tickled Ethan's nose, but he didn't complain about it to Faulkner. After all he was a guest here and it would make the blue haired man lose face, which probably would embarrass him to no end. Faulkner got up first at the crack of dawn and looked at Ethan before saying. "Can you take this note to the gatekeeper at Azelea Town for me? I still need to check on the tower here in Violet City." "Understood, I know how much your family means to you." Ethan replied quickly as the Sages hurried over and stated while throwing water over the Champion's brow, as a good luck blessing. "Good luck and may you be at peace.".

The journey on the road to Azelea town wasn't exactly easy, that was without the strange and relatively harmless cult wearing Unown shaped robes hiding out in Union Cave and the somehow more aggressive to outsiders wild Pokemon on Route 33. But he could tell the villagers seemed more paranoid than before, only explaining everything twice and showing Faulkner's letter to Bugsy could he get inside the rustic town. 

Apart from some of the roofs looking hastily redone along with a few boarded up houses, the Charcoal kiln being sealed away and Maizie's Mum waving from Kurt's house, everything seemed as normal as it was before the apocalypse. Well apart from the weird splats of paint in bug shapes outside the Gym of course.

The purple haired man wearing trousers with a green khaki print laughed at Ethan before briefly scowling "Ah. We- no I sort of guessed that when Faulkner's Pidgeot gave me a letter last night. But I don't really know if I'm up to the task at hand you see. So many people didn't come back from the Dark Wars and our little town nearly died out. But my friends told me ways I could try to help though." The feeling of powerlessness and doubt wasn't exactly a new thing for Ethan, especially not during that time of horrors.

Yet obviously there was something on Bugsy's mind, for the normally cheerful owner of the Hive Badge seemed rather down in the dumps and had dark circles over his eyes. "Do you want to sit down over on the bench. and talk about what's on your mind" "Alright then. Normally I'd talk to Maizie, Al, or the twins about it." Bugsy nodded as he got out his collection of bug facts and hurried after Ethan onto the gym bench.

"Sometimes, I feel like my Bug Types don't stop talking to me about what they want to do. I hate just feeling like I'm a powerless kid in front of everyone. The chitters, buzzing and whispers keep me up all night and I can't sleep properly." Bugsy shuddered as he briefly sprouted chitin on his hands before calming down. 

It was odd, going out on patrol near the Slowpoke Well and climbing down a well with, but this time Ethan was confused to see Silver standing near it. Bugsy panicked for a bit going "S-silver?! What do you want tooday? Whoops." Then somehow Bugsy tripped and used String Shot on Silver, as several annoyed Slowpoke came out of the first floor's water pool to take a peek. 


	4. Whitney's Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Bugsy is focusing on the present and Faulkner is struggling with his family duty, Whitney is another matter entirely.

###  Whitney's Denial 

#####  Day 3 of the preparations. 7 days left until the Indigo 

The feeling of lush grass under your feet was something Ethan had rarely experienced, but it was a miracle that any wild Bug Pokemon hadn't attacked them in the middle of the night. Maybe Bugsy was responsible for it, or maybe it was just that most of them preferred to sleep in their hives, cocoons or webs. 

Either way, as Ethan got up first, he made sure to check that nothing was too badly messed up around the campsite. "Zzz. Pretty colours of that partner Vivilion camera lady. Hey Burgh great idea. Aaron and Guzma stop fighting, we all like Bugs here." Bugsy quickly smacked his lips as he got up in the sleeping bag.

"Oh morning Bugsy.

There were groups of arguing Redshift Grunts and Bikers squaring off on the road, so Ethan groaned as he snook past the gangs. Really 

"Well , we're all worried about Whitney. She keeps on trying to pretend this is a bad dream, is demanding Lunar Wings, that we can't get due to the attempted coup by Brock's forces against the Sinnoh League and is just letting everything fall apart here in the camp. I tried to stop her from heading into the old Goldenrod gym, but her Miltank is still a beast, even though as a Gym trainer Beauty I know not to touch her Miltank's calves." Beauty Victoria stated in a matter of fact tone with a biker jacket covering her bare shoulders.

"Oh, it's you Ethan. Can you wake me up from this horrid nightmare. There's no way anything bad happened here."


	5. Morty's Gloom and Eusine's obsession

#####  Day 4, 6 days left until the league preparations

The morning felt like it was as fleeting as the Goldenrod Re-builders started to clean up their camp site. 

A Shadow Ball flew over Ethan's head as the three Legendary legend expert Eusine ran up to him on the Eruteak road and shouted. "Kid get somewhere safe, like a Pokemon Centre. Agatha somehow crossed over the Kanto barrier a couple of nights ago and she's fighting Morty at the Burned Tower! I tried to help him, but she knocked all of my Pokemon out with Sludge Bomb and Curse, which has ruined my week." 

"Why do you continue living on nephew? It is pointless for me to live without Samuel Oak, he was one of the few Trainers I actually respected. So just tell me why!" Agatha, the Kanto Ghost type Pokemon Member of the Elite Four stated to Morty, in an unusually sullen and bitter tone . He just looked at Elm's own gravestone a few blocks away in the graveyard, before replying calmly. "Because we both know he wouldn't have wanted this to happen."

It was both a tragedy and a blessing, that Professor Elm had died barely two weeks after Professor Oak had. For while Elm had managed to ensure Johto could stay intact, he had also witnessed the horrors that Team Rocket had made of his friend's research. That weighed on Ethan's mind as he readied his Mismagius, newly evolved in Sinnoh before the Dark wars had broken out. "Mismagius." "Gengar." "Gengar." The two Gengars acknowledged her presence as the battle began. 

In pokemon speak, the meeting was more intense than what their Trainers thought. _"Tony why are you doing this? None of our Trainers wanted this?!" "Because mine just wants things to be better. The horrors that war created were proof of this to me."_


	6. Chuck in Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck is in a bad mood and the entire town of Cianwood city has turned to piracy. Can

The road to Olivine town was hard, for all of the roads were covered with wild Pokemon and the bones of dead trainers warning about Shadow Pokemon as Ethan headed across. "Hmm Jasmine isn't next in the list,so that means I'll have to find Chuck. Surely nothing wrong could have happened there like Kanto?" But when he arrived, the ports were locked and Jasmine sighed with an eyepatch over her left eye. 

"if you've come to persuade Chuck,than you'll have a tough time. Ever since the event everyone in Cianwood town turned to piracy due to poor crops and famines making things worse over there. I'm coming with you so you don't wind up being stabbed in the back." She explained as Ethan exclaimed. "Wait,what?! Chuck is a pirate now?" 

As they headed across the bay,well they weren't kidding,the whole town was a mess and everyone was carrying knifes in the streets,along with Dark type pokemon all wandering around picking on the other Pokemon.


	7. Janine's Nervousness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After settling things with Chuck, Nate heads back to Olivine for the gym battle and to give Jasmine silver's letter. But why are the Kanto League members who followed Gary trying to block the way for unification?

Nate was tired as the other half of the 6th day was about to dawn, while he cooled his heels on the boat. Actually fighting Chuck just so he could listen to his words and sign silver's letter wasn't what he'd expected. Something was bothering him though. "Chuck mentioned something about the Kanto league trying to remodel the SS Anne into a military base against either Gary's forces or everybody else. But when I arrived in Kanto last time, they were planning something about Team Rocket. This doesn't add up." 

So walking up the lighthouse steps to see Janine again as the slightly greying Steel type gym leader sighed. "At least you're still in one piece after Chuck. He's stubborner then Whitney on a bad day. You probably want me to sign that letter right?" Ethan nodded while he pulled out the letter with at least five signatures, as Janine added her own to the pile. 

But just before he left, Janine called out. "Wait. Before you go, I want to have a Pokémon battle. Like when you gave my Amphoras Amphy some medicine all those years ago when they got sick. Please, just to remember those good times." Ethan quickly sent out his Typosodil, Beedril, Lapras, Pidgeot, Jynx and Rhydon, while Jasmine sent out her two Magnetons and a Steelix. Amphy also joined in and after three long round. while Beedril,Pidgeot and Jynx got KOed, it was Ethan who won. the guilt striken champion quickly returned the three pokemon under his care as Ethan sighed. "What else were you wanting to talk about?" the sun was setting as Jasmine put on some reading glasses as she revealed a document with the old Team Rocket logo on it. "Brace yourself Ethan, this may be unsettling. Giovanni did something horrible to ash, his Pikachu , a strange relative of Misty called Valdera and her own Pikachu along with mind controlling Ash and Gary to seek each other out in case he died." 

Ethan shook his head in horror at what. "But why would he mind control Gary? Silver was already alive at the time of the final battle, unless it was because he'd already switched sides to the Johto league by then?" 

End of the sixth day, 2 days remaining for Johto and Kanto.... 


End file.
